Railways tennis championship: Kirrtane delighted at victory

Railways coach says the young side was charged up to retain title

June 03, 2019 09:40 pm | Updated 09:40 pm IST - New Delhi

Smooth ride: The victorious Indian Railways team — Prithvi Sekhar, P.C. Vignesh, manager P.C. Lochab, coach Nitten Kirrtane and Fahad Mohammed.

Smooth ride: The victorious Indian Railways team — Prithvi Sekhar, P.C. Vignesh, manager P.C. Lochab, coach Nitten Kirrtane and Fahad Mohammed.

Nitten Kirrtane, who has been part of the Railways for a long time, was delighted with the dominant performance of the Indian team which retained the trophy in the 21st USIC World Railways tennis championship in Albena, Bulgaria.

From being a player in the last edition in 2015 in Germany, to be the coach this time, he was happy with the professional execution by the young team.

Did he miss playing the event? “I did not miss playing the tournament. My presence on court, guiding the youngsters, and during the preparatory camp, was like playing. In team competitions, each player has a role. We played as a team and I am happy we came through,” said Kirrtane.

Looking back, Nitten felt that winning the trophy in 2015 was a lot more difficult, as there were more teams, and better ones.

“In 2015, we had a senior team. All of us were highly experienced which helped us win the championship. France was the biggest challenger then, and we beat them 3-1. All matches were very close.

“We had lost to France in 2011, in a nerve-wracking tie. We have made up for that loss by winning back to back titles,” said Kirrtane.

“The young side was fully charged up. We hardly had any opposition this time. The French team faded away early. The Czech team was good, but we dominated them.

“We were the favourites, and we showed our efficiency. It was good match practice for the boys, who can get their focus back on the professional circuit, with better conviction, as the ATP points have been restored for entry level tournaments,” said.

Kirrtane was quite pleased, especially with the work done during the fortnight-long training camp.

As the team received its trophy and the gold medals, it was without former Asian junior champion Nitin Kumar Sinha who had to go for his professional tournament.

“Nitin had to rush for the sign-in for the ITF $15,000 event in Plovdiv in Bulgaria. We missed him at the closing ceremony,” said Kirrtane.

Even though he was proud to be the coach, the 44-year-old Kirrtane said that he was looking forward to continuing his journey as a player.

“I will continue playing the seniors circuit and keep trying my best. I will also continue to work for the promotion of the game,” said Kirrtane.

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